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It's been named Asia's Best Restaurant for three years in a row, and ranks 7th on the World's Best list. It has a waiting list that goes on for months. It has also helped put progressive Indian food on the global menu.

The eponymous Gaggan (named after the chef) is a restaurant that gets even the most experienced food connoisseurs sit up and take notice. And rightfully so! Having set up his first eatery in Bangkok seven years ago, Anand quickly rose to fame with his unique menu and food.

Currently back in the country, for a four-city culinary tour de force with the Taj hotels, Anand and his team along with the hotels chefs are creating an exclusive 12-course gastronomic experience for the Indian audience.

We caught up with the Masterchef when he was in the city for a quick chat, on returning 'home', shutting down Gaggan, and future plans (which have got us so excited).

Excerpts from the interview:

You are a Punjabi from Kolkata. That itself explains the culinary journey that you have chosen to undertake...

Gaggan Anand: My food is a mix and blend of everything. The Punjabi factor gives richness to the food while Bengali is the lightest cuisine in the country, so they both balance out beautifully.

All my memories from home are Punjabi, but outside the house it was all about the sumptuous Bengali food. This blend, I feel, increases the variety. Also, mustard oil (sarso) is used heavily in both the cuisines. That in a sense makes both cuisines similar, and yet so different.

You once said that if you set shop in India it will be to make money...

Gaggan Anand: (Laughs) That's why I couldn't do it.

You started your journey with the Taj? And now you're back in India, doing a 4-city tour with the group. Does it feel like completing a full circle?

Gaggan Anand: Sometimes you take wrong decisions that become right and the right ones become wrong. But luckily for me, the best thing about both Taj and Gaggan was the maturity of handling things better. Rather than being competitive, it was all about moving forward. And, Taj is the only hotel chain that I've ever worked with in India which makes me feel a sense of loyalty.

What is your favourite memory/biggest learning from your days at Taj?

Gaggan Anand: Well, this is a funny one from my first day at the Taj kitchen. There was this senior chef at the Taj Mahal hotel on Man Singh Road. He's not there any longer.

On my first day, the minute I entered his kitchen, he said (very sincerely and in a rush), "Take a pan, put some ice in it and some butter and sauté it." And, he did it in such a lightning hurry that we didn't even have time to think. I was just taken aback. And then you think that you are new so...

But fortunately, I turned around and said, "I don't think this makes sense, sautéing ice. Can you please tell me how to do it?"

He then went on to ask a second batchmate to do the same thing. He, too, was baffled but got lucky. But our third batchmate wasn't so lucky, and ended up trying it.

And though we joked about it together later, there was a very important lesson there about paying attention to detail and learning to say no sometimes.

A creation by Anand.

You are shutting down Gaggan by 2020. You have also mentioned about opening a restaurant in Japan. Why there?

Gaggan Anand: I visit Japan every month as I feel very connected to the place. Also, I feel it's the next level when it comes to food.

We plan to open the restaurant in 2021, a year after I close Gaggan. It will remain open every alternate month, giving us time to improvise. I'm collaborating with chef Takeshi ‘Goh’ Fukuyama and the two of us are creating something new that won't be either Indian or Japanese.

But we plan to have only 10 seats. So that's 200-300 seats in a month. What restaurants do in a day, we will do in a month. It will be the most inaccessible restaurant in the world!

What will happen to Gaggan in Bangkok?Gaggan Anand: It will open as Raa, in a different format with a different menu. And it will be run by my current head chef, Rydo, at the restaurant who has been with me for the past six years. Raa will completely be his restaurant and I won't be controlling it.

There's also a wine bar and a tofu restaurant lined up, both in Bangkok.

Gaggan ​has been named Asia's Best Restaurant for three years in a row, and ranks 7th on the World's Best list. (Image: eatatgaggan.com)

What do you think of the food and restaurant scene in India?Gaggan Anand: I love the food, India gives me a dose of nostalgia. But, unfortunately the restaurants here aren't doing food the way they should be. Frankly, the food served in some of the new places that have opened in the last few years has been a disappointment.

Are Indians experimenting enough when it comes to food?Gaggan Anand: No, they aren't, yet. They are mostly just doing a retake. The audience is ready and it's about availability. I have about 25 per cent Indians coming to Gaggan. But the demand will only happen when there is supply.

Mushroom roll.

What is your comfort food in India?Gaggan Anand: I go back to the street food, the ones that make me nostalgic. When am in Delhi, I visit this place behind Nizamuddin, and Chandni Chowk. In Bombay it's Swati Snacks. I always go back to my standard places.

Any Indian chefs that you think will become trailblazers?Gaggan Anand: There's Manish Mehrotra, for one. I haven't seen anything else yet.